Cotton-seed conveyer.



No. 636.4l4. Patented Nov. 7, I899.

J. T. MOORE.

COTTON SEED CONVEYER.

(Application filed Aug. 12, 1899.)

(No Model.)

Wiigcsscs rm: Nonms perms co. Panto-Lima. WASNINUTON, I:v c

UNITED STATES PATENT JOHN T.'MOORE, OF YANTIS, TEXASQASSIG NOR OF TWO-THIRDS TO KIMBRO T. DENTON AND ROBERT S. BLYTHE, OF SULPHUR SPRINGS, TEXAS.

COTTON-SEED CONVEYER.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent No. 636,414, dated November '7, 1899. Application filed August 12, 1899. Serial No. 727,064. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern;

Be it known that 1, JOHN T. MOORE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Yantis, in the county of Wood and State of Texas,

5 have invented a new and useful Cotton-Seed Oonveyer, of which the following is a specification. V

My invention relates to means for discharging cotton-seed from one or a battery of cot- 1o ton-gins; and one object of the invention is to provide improved means for carrying off the cotton-seed, which means permits ready access to be obtained to the under side of the gin-stand for cleaning out the space thereber 5 neath, whereby accumulations of seed and cotton beneath the gin-stand may be removed with ease and despatch.

A further object of the invention is to utilize the blast from the exhaust-fan of the cotzo ton-handling apparatus in the best possible manner for conveying the cotton-seed from a gin or gins-that is to say, the seed-conveying flue is constructed with a straight flat bottom and with inclined surfaces in the top 2 5 wall, which permit the blast from the fan to expand in said fine to be concentrated therein at the line where the air-blasts strike the discharged seed. I

Vith these ends in view the invention consists in the novel construct-ion and arrangement ofparts, which will be hereinafter fully described and claimed.

In the drawings, Figure 1 isa sectional elevation illustrating my seed-conveying mech- 5 anism in operative relation to a battery of cotton gins or linters and an ordinary cottonhandling apparatus. Fig. 2 is an enlarged sectional elevation on the plane indicated by the dotted line 2 2 of Fig. 1 through one of the gins of the battery and the seed-discharge flue and the hopper therebetween. The same numerals of reference denote like parts in both of the figures.

A battery of ordinary gins or linters is in- 5 dicated by the numeral 5, each gin being provided with a breast 6, a saw-cylinder 7, a brush-cylinderS, and a feed-mouth 9. Above the gins of the battery is an ordinary distributer-fiue 10,, having a series of feeders 11, arranged to discharge individually to the gins of the battery, one end of said distributerflues being coupled in an ordinary way with the exhaust-fan 12. All these parts are ordinary in the art. Hence they may be of the usual or any preferred construction.

The seed-discharging mechanism of my invention includes as one element thereof a discharge-flue 13, which is arranged, as desired, above or underneath the floor of the gin house or apartment in which the battery of gins 5 is contained. This dischargeflue 13 is situated immediately beneath the breast 6 and in front'of the series of gins. This seed-discharge l'lue is preferably square and peculiarly constructed, as will hereinafter appear, for the purpose of concentrating the energy of the blast at the several points where the cotton-seed are discharged from the gins and hoppers into said flue; but I desire to remark at this point that the fine 13, whatever its shape, must necessarily comprise a straight flat bottom 14, which is free from irregularities or curved or inclined surfaces of any character whatever, for the purpose of forming a straight wall, which will permit the free and unobstructed passage of the cotton-seed under the propulsive energy of the blast of air from the e haust-fan12. The upper wall or inside of this seed-discharge flue is enlarged or expanded, so as to make the interior dimensions of the flue of greater cross-sectional area than the corresponding area of the mouth at the point where theflue is coupled to the casing of the exhaust-fan, the enlarged or expanded portion of the flue being indicated by the numeral 15.

16 designates a series of hoppers which have communication individually with the flue 13, one of said hoppers being devoted to each gin of the battery. Each hopper com- 0 prises converging walls 17, the one wall being inclined from the gin-breast toward the flue 13, and the hopper is seated in such manner upon the line as to surround an ingressopening 18 therein to provide a practically 5 tight joint therewith, said hopper serving to conduct the seed from the saw-cylinder of the gin directly to the said seed-discharge flue.

One of the important features of my'invention consists in hinging the hoppers individu- 10o ally to the flue 13, whereby the hoppers may be individually thrown downward and forward for the operator to obtain access to the space beneath the gin-stand for relieving the latter from the accumulations of seed or motes which may be thrown oif from the gin. It will be understood that each hopper has its front wall hinged to the top of the flue 13, as at 19, and thatthe top edge of the hopper is clear of any obstruction to its free movement when desired. By hinging the hoppers individually to the flue the space within one ginstand may be cleaned without interrupting the service of the remaining gins in the battery. As the hopper has its front lower edge hinged to the flue, it may rest squarely upon said flue when it is in its normal upright position, thus enabling the'h'opper to fit closely around the opening 18 in the top wall of the flue.

20 designates a series of throats which correspond in number to the hoppers and gins, said throats being situated within the seed discharge flue 13. Each throat is made fast with the top wall of the flue 13, so as to surround the opening 18 and lie coincident with the opening in the bottom of the hopper, said throat being inclined in the direction of the blast which traverses the flue 13 from the fan 12. (See Fig. 1.) A series of deflectors 21 are employed within the upper part of the flue 13 and between the near side of the inclined throats and the enlarged portion 15 of said flue. Each deflector is inclined from the enlarged part 15 of the flue to the lower edge of theinner side or wall forming a part of the throat 20, said deflector being joined to the throat and the top wall of the flue. The cross-sectional area of the flue at the line where the deflector joins the throat is equal to the area of the mouth of the flue where it is coupled to the casing of the exhaust-fan. The inclined deflector 21 directs the upper strata of the air-current in a downward course toward the straight bottom wall 14 of the flue and the open lower extremity of the throat 20. The employment of the deflectors within the enlarged upper part of the flue and contiguous to the inclined throats provides for an expansion of the air-blast within. the enlarged part 15 of the flue and serves to concentrate the blast at the lower end of the throat 20, and this effect is obtained at each throat beneath each of the hoppers from the gins of the battery, whereby the described construction of the due, the throats, and the deflectors in connection with the straight bottom wall let of the flue enables the energy of the blast to be utilized to the best advantage in carrying off the seed which may be deposited in the flue 13. I attach importance to the employment of a flue with a straight bottom wall 14 and to the employment of the inclined deflectors within the enlarged upper part 15 of the flue contiguous to the inner side of the inclined throat, because this construction concentrates the energy of the blast at each throat and enables the cotton-seed to pass unobstructedly along the straight bottom of the flue.

In the operation of the system represented the fan 12 is driven at the required speed to create a suction-current through the distributer-flue 10 and to force a blast of air through the seed-discharge tube 13. The cotton is supplied by the feeders 11 to the gins, which operate on the cotton in the usual manner for the saw-cylinder to discharge the seed into the hoppers 16, while the lint-cotton is forced by the blast and feeding action of the brush-cylinder 8 into the lint-discharge flue. The cotton-seed passes through the hoppers into the throats and thence to the flue 13, and the blast from the fan 12 carries the cotton-seed along the straight bottom 14 of the flue to a seed-hopper or seed-house. By applying suitable directing devices to the flue 13 beyond the last gin farthest from the fan the seed can be deposited at different places and carried awayfrom said flue in different directions.

The conveyor 13 may be made of any desirable material, though wood is preferred, and the form may at any time be changed. By the use of the improved device a saving of power ensues, as the utilization of many devices now commonly employed is dispensed with and which require additional power for operation, and by reducing the power necessary to run the apparatus the expense of the same is also correspondingly reduced. There is nothing to get out of order, as the parts are few and simple in construction and of a strong and durable nature.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim is The combination with a battery of gins or linters, a pneumatic cotton-conveyor, and an exhaust-fan, of the seed-discharge flue enlarged in cross-section beyond its connection with the exhaust-fan and having its continuous top wall parallel with the bottom wall, said top wall provided with seed-openings in the vertical planes of the gin-saws, a series of hoppers provided with curved top edges and hinged at one edge individually to the top wall of the flue, each hopper extending upwardly from the flue to a point close to the under side of the gin and seated upon said top wall of the flue around the seed-opening therein, whereby the hopper may be turned downwardly and forwardly, the inclined throats 20, within said seed-discharge flue, and the downwardly-inclined deflectors, 21, each extending from the top wall of the flue to the lower end of one inclined throat, substantially as and for the purposes described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto aflixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

JOHN T. MOORE.

Witnesses:

J. J. DIAL, F. E. SCOTT. 

